**Before I get too far into writing about our week, I want to let you know that I have gone through Marisa’s posts from Valley’s week in Cercadillo and added some pictures to go with her posts for you visual people. We didn’t have much time to upload pictures while the team was here.

We (Rebekah, Ina, & Yo) are enjoying a much needed day of rest at home today after an incredible second week of camp in Cercadillo, courtesy of our friends (some old, some new) from Gateway Church in South Riding, Virginia. They seamlessly continued the theme of Creation by teaching about what God did on days 5-7 and ending with a day of serving the community in community. Ina was able to be with us in camp each day this week and delivered the beginning teaching sessions with incredible enthusiasm for God’s glory and a lot of laughter. The theme for both weeks was “Cuando Dios Habla, Algo Sucede” (When God Speaks, Something Happens). At the very minimum, unofficial polling confirms that 99% of the children left with a knowledge of what God created and when, but our prayer is that more importantly, 100% left with a genuine understanding of how great and powerful God is and that the same God who created everything and created them wants to have a personal relationship with them. The teaching was delivered, so please join us in praying that the message of God’s creating power and abounding love was received in minds and hearts.

Each day began with singing and worship (if you’ve every been to camp in Cercadillo, you can insert the appropriate level of noise and enthusiasm here), followed with a review of what God had done so far. Ina gave a lesson on what God did on the new day, and then the children were treated to a visit from Zoo Hombre, a comedic character who daily caused his team to hold their breath as he tripped over empty water bottles, cement blocks, and tables all while teaching interesting facts about animals that God created. He was a quick favorite and used the catch-phrase “Lo hizo a proposito” (“I meant to do that”) so many times per session that by the third day, the kids would say it before he could. A highlight each day was when Zoo Hombre would mention an animal who spit, sprayed water, or uncontrollably slobbered and the children would be sprayed with water from all directions. (Insert shrieks of joy and children diving under benches here.) After the opening session the children split into 3 rotations of Bible stories, crafts, and games that continued to weave in the main topic of creation for that day.

The last day was particularly fun as the campers were taught about the creation of Eve and God’s plan for us to live and work in community. The children worked in groups to build and paint new benches for the ministry site, do some basic clean up (raking, garbage collection), and plant some beautiful flowers in Ina’s old tires! What a fun day…but wait, there’s more! We finished the day by celebrating all God had done and eating a bit of cake, always a fun thing to share in Cercadillo!

Overall, the week was full of laughter, loving on kids, and important foundational teaching. As one of only two privileged people who were able to see both weeks of camp in full, I believe that our goals of instilling knowledge, unleashing the wonder of how powerful God is, and extending the love of Christ were accomplished to the best of our abilities and to the glory of God. All praise to Him for His presence and movement in Cercadillo. God was beyond faithful to fill in the gaps where our best efforts came up short and to love the children through us. What a privilege to be used by Him!!!

Yesterday was a relaxing day at the beach and a time for reflection. Please join us in praying that God will use the past two weeks of camps to effect changes in the children, the Cercadillo leaders, and two teams from two churches.

3 Responses to Gateway to Cercadillo

YEAH!!! Go God! Joining in the prayer that the hearts of Cercadillo are fertile soil and God will do some growing from here on out! What a blessing to be used by God – thanks for your faithful service friends 🙂 Hope you are getting some much needed rest and energized for what God has in store this week!